


Mint Mornings

by horologiiums



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Cuddling, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Fluff without Plot, Marriage, mild nudity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-19
Updated: 2019-09-19
Packaged: 2020-10-24 09:13:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20703518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/horologiiums/pseuds/horologiiums
Summary: Claude was used to sleeping alone but he could get used to waking up with company.





	Mint Mornings

He was used to sleeping alone. In his youth, he would often sneak out of his home in the middle of the night and find somewhere open, quiet, and under the expanse of the clear starry sky to rest his head. It was dangerous, of course, but the feeling of the cool night breeze blowing against his face and the sounds of the nocturnal creatures stirring in the grass around him calmed his nerves, never failing to lull him into a deep rest.

As he got older, primarily after being crowned king of his homeland, he had lost his opportunities to sleep under the stars and on the vast grassy plains of his youth. It was regrettable but he eventually grew accustomed to regularly sleeping indoors on a bed. He knew that he always had the option of arguing with his retainers and the guards to let him sleep where he wanted - even on the palace rooftop would have been fine - but he knew them too well, and they knew him too well. Fighting fire with fire was pointless and so he resigned the idea of sneaking out of his chamber’s window and climbing his way up to the rooftop for some shuteye.

He was used to sleeping alone and he was used to waking up on his back, stretching his arms above his head and letting out a loud yawn. So much so, that when he awoke and felt an unfamiliar weight on the left side of his body - and most notably on his chest - Claude’s fight or flight immediately kicked in the second his mind registered that he had risen from his slumber.

If it weren’t for his gaze catching sight of mint green hair where the weight was pressing against his chest, he was sure he would have kicked the offending presence off of him before leaping out of his bed, ready to defend himself against the intruder.

Thankfully, he did notice, and at once the sounds and sights of the previous evening filled his mind; loud disjointed clapping, endless cheering and happy chatting, bright flowers and decorations strewn everywhere. Her mint green hair and matching colored eyes ever by his side, her soft voice whispering her undying affections for him into his ear all night long.

Byleth. His Byleth. His love. His wife.

_ You almost kicked your own wife out of bed, Claude. _

He couldn’t help but laugh inwardly at himself. Their wedding had just been the day prior and he was already forgetting one of the best occasions of his life. But it was all still new to him and he was sure that Byleth would feel the same. He could let his mistake slide just once.

Having identified the pressure against his body as his sleeping wife’s form, Claude let himself relax, tilting his head a touch to the right so that he could get a better view of her face. He didn’t really know what he had expected; she was unconscious so of course she wouldn’t be displaying any sort of emotion. Her features were still, unfeeling, eyes lidded so her long, pretty lashes curled toward her cheeks. Her mouth was gently closed, lips not pursed in the slightest.

With how expressionless she appeared as she slept, Claude was reminded of the day he had first met Byleth, along with the few months that he had known her that followed. She had never been one to bare her emotions, in fact, back in the days when he was nothing more than her student, he often wondered if she even felt anything at all. She was so stoic, too stoic, almost like a child’s doll or some ethereal being. Did she think about anything at all besides combat? Was she even able to feel any sort of emotion? Could she express joy, sorrow, anger - anything? He remembered thinking that he had to find out the answers to his questions, no matter what it took.

Claude could never forget the first time he saw Byleth smile.

He had been shocked but he managed to play it off, mostly just impressed that she really _ was _ able to express something besides her “dead eyed professor” look. But it was after that that Claude found himself begin to open up to her.

He had been convinced, so very convinced, that she had been keeping secrets about herself from her fellow colleagues, her students, everyone save her father. And while it was true that she did have secrets, Byleth always laid herself bare. The secrets she hadn’t shared weren’t kept classified because she had chosen for them to be, but rather because she had no idea about any of those secrets herself. She had always presented her honest self, she never had anything to willingly hide. Her easy, happy smile that day was proof enough of that.

In time, Byleth became the first person in a very… _ very _ long time that Claude came to trust. Then, she became his friend, his ally, his fellow in command. And before he knew it, he had fallen in love with her.

_ And now she’s my wife. _ Claude allowed himself a small smile, admittedly still a bit shocked about that fact. He raised his right hand and gently touched her cheek with the back of his pointer finger, carefully drawing it down to the corner of her mouth.

Byleth stirred at that, a soft “mmm” sounding in her throat as she nuzzled her face against his skin, a hand of her own reaching up from under the covers and settling on his chest, next to her face. Claude wondered if she would stay asleep like that, not that he would have minded, but within a few seconds, Byleth’s features scrunched ever so slightly and she tiredly blinked her eyes open.

Her gaze was unfocused, no doubt still half asleep. She lifted her head off of him, just enough so that she could turn her stare toward his face. It took only a few heartbeats for it all to unfold; the realization of whom she was sleeping on, the confusion of as to why, realization again as she was able to remember, and then, finally, a tiny smile.

Claude was right; just as he was unused to the sensation of waking up next to someone in the morning, so too was Byleth.

“Morning, my love.” he greeted her quietly, pushing her unkempt fringe back with his fingertips before allowing it to fall back against her forehead, slightly tidier than it had been prior.

Byleth hummed at his affectionate display, her smile tugging a bit harder at the corners of her mouth. “Good morning, Claude.” she returned, her voice dragging a bit with sleep. She rested her head back against him, her fingers lightly playing with the dark hairs on his chest.

He delighted in the way she had said “good morning”, how strange but pleasantly intimate it was, how it was a morning greeting reserved for him and him alone.

Claude managed to wriggle his left arm, which had been trapped under Byleth, somewhat free, at least free enough so that he could sneak it under her waist and wrap it around her bare back, keeping her close. He felt her sigh silently against him, content with the half embrace.

“Sleep well?” he watched her face as he asked, Byleth allowing her eyes to fall shut.

She hummed once again before answering. “I did, actually.” Her fingers stopped their lazy movements on his chest, Byleth choosing to simply rest her palm against him instead. Claude already missed the light touches of her individual fingertips, still able to feel where she had been tracing nonsensical lines against him but the warmth of her hand concentrated on a single part of his body was undeniably just as pleasing. “Did you?” she bounced his question back at him.

Claude thought about that for a moment, not that he really needed to. Of course he had slept well. He had gotten married, had the knowledge that he would be spending the rest of his days with the woman he loved by his side, had spent the previous night holding her tightly, never wanting to let go. He had slept so well that he had nearly shoved Byleth out of his - _ their _ \- bed, his dreamy haze putting him under the impression that she was an assassin who was about to kill him.

He grinned dumbly at that, knowing how he wanted to present his response to Byleth. It was probably a bad idea - no, it most certainly _ was _ a bad idea - but it was also a fun idea and they both knew how much Claude enjoyed harmlessly teasing his peers when the occasion presented itself.

“Well,” he started, slowly making tiny circles on Byleth’s waist with his thumb, “I was having the most peaceful of sleeps, dreaming about cute little forest birds singing me lullabies…” he could almost hear Byleth deadpan an “uh huh” at the exaggerated way he spoke. “But alas! My pleasant slumber would not last! A rock - no, a _ boulder _ \- suddenly fell from the sky, out of nowhere, and landed on me! Directly over my heart!” Claude animatedly waved his right arm up and down once, as though describing the way his make believe boulder collided with him. When he glanced down at Byleth, she still wasn’t looking at him but he could tell that she had opened her eyes again and he could feel her smile against his skin. “It was horrible, truly. _ So _ horrible, in fact, that it forced me awake, as if a real boulder had _ actually _ crushed me!”

“Really now?” Byleth’s voice was deep as she tried to hide her amusement.

“Yes, really.” he agreed, nodding once. “But what did I find when I awoke? Why, it was my wife” - he couldn’t fight the dopey smile that forced itself onto his lips as he said the word - “rolling on top of me, using me as a pillow! How unrefined of you, Queen of Fódlan! For a moment there, I was almost convinced you were a murderer about to claim your next victim!”

Byleth still hadn’t lifted her head to look at him but she tapped her fingers against his chest twice. “If I were a murderer, you would already be dead, King of Almyra.”

It wasn’t a threat, she was simply playing along with him and teasing him back, but Claude knew in full knowledge that if Byleth ever had the desire to kill someone, she could. Her previous title of “Ashen Demon” had never been for show, after all; he had seen it first hand many times on the battlefield.

Claude considered the idea of continuing their theatrics, enjoying the easy and natural way they played off of each other but Byleth started shifting, putting her hands on either side of him and pushing herself up. “But don’t you know that it’s rude to comment on a woman’s weight? What was it… a _ boulder _?”

_ Ah. _

In hindsight, that hadn’t been very smooth of him.

He knew that Byleth wouldn’t have taken real offense to his comparison - she was aware that he hadn’t meant his words in the way she had rephrased them - but he acknowledged that he had to apologize regardless. Insinuating that his bride weighed the same as a rock, a _ boulder _ no less, was quite impolite and probably not the best metaphor he could have used when telling his story.

Before he could even open his mouth to offer his apologies, however, he felt Byleth sling one of her legs over him from under the covers.

“Hey, what’re you- _ oof! _” he couldn’t finish his question, Byleth having knocked the wind out of him as she sat on his stomach, straddling him. She straightened her back, towering over Claude, the sheets that had been covering them moved away thanks to Byleth’s new position, falling off of her shoulders and behind her back.

She was smirking at him, surprisingly looking quite proud of herself and Claude wished he could return her grin with one of his own but at the sight of her exposed body, all feeling in his own vanished, his mind went blank and he was left breathless as he gawked at Byleth perched over him.

He had seen her unclothed just the previous evening and they had fallen asleep together like that as well, after the usual post-marriage activities. Still, it had been darker at night. There was no sunlight shining in through the bedroom windows as there was then, causing her pale, unblemished skin to appear as though it were glowing. Her light colored hair cascaded over her shoulders, settling atop the curve of her breasts. Her stomach was toned, abdominal muscles even more noticeable in the gifted lighting.

Claude was never one to blindly believe in gods or higher than life entities, but if the way Byleth looked then wasn’t the definition of “goddess”…

“You’re beautiful.” He hadn’t noticed that he had even said the words, didn’t even know that he was capable of speaking or articulating properly with how numb he felt. But he noticed the way Byleth’s cheeks flushed ever so slightly at his thoughts of her beauty, serving as enough proof to let him know that he_ had _ said them aloud.

Claude felt her small hands find his and she laced their fingers together. Despite the delicate size of her hands compared to his own, much like his, they were rough and calloused, as though bragging about their years’ experience of wielding a blade.

Byleth leaned forward, pinning Claude’s hands against the mattress on either side of his head. He couldn’t resist her even if he had wanted to, but he was more than okay with being at her mercy.

“I love you, Claude von Riegan.” He had heard the phrase said in her voice many times before, but Byleth’s confessions of love would always be music to his ears.

Finally feeling like he had regained enough control over his body, or at least his face, Claude tried to perform one of his usual charming grins but he knew that he looked more bashful than anything else. When he spoke, his words were against her lips. “And I, you. Byleth, my love.”

Claude was used to sleeping alone but he could get used to waking up with company.

**Author's Note:**

> I was very scared to write from Claude’s POV for some reason lol? when I was thinking about this fic, I imagined it from Byleth’s perspective but god said “NO” so here we are.
> 
> I’ve been stewing over this idea for a week, wanting nothing more than to write about these two cuddling. & then they barely cuddle in this ohmygod-- BUT I’m actually very happy with how this turned out? I was vomiting cotton candy & butterflies by the end of it & I’m quite embarrassed with how adorable this ended up being. it almost deserves an Explicit rating for being too fucking cute LOL thanks if you made it this far & I hope you enjoyed!


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